Students, the nation’s potential workforce, must acquire the needed entry-level technology skills demanded in the work environment. Business leaders question whether students are graduating from technology programs with appropriate and adequate technology skills. The purpose of this study was to determine how two-year and four-year college students assess their college technology programs and how they perceive the adequacy of the technology skills they had acquired in meeting workplace needs. A secondary purpose was to determine if differences existed based on demographic characteristics of participants. A survey research design was used in this study. The survey instrument consisted of three sections: Section I sought demographic information, Section II dealt with students’ perceptions of their technology programs, and Section III of the questionnaire was designed to have students assess their skills related to various computer applications and functions. Major skill areas include Word®, Access®, Excel®, and PowerPoint®. The findings indicated that participants were satisfied with the quality of their technology programs but they expressed some concern with the areas of instructional materials and integrating technology. Four-year college participants agreed that they had acquired the necessary Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access skills. Two-year college participants agreed that they have acquired the necessary Word, Excel, and PowerPoint skills but did not express they had acquired the necessary Access skills. Recommendations included: (a) conducting survey research to identify businesses/industries’ technology needs, (b) improving the questionnaire, (c) interviewing faculty members and students for survey research, (d) conducting a pilot study, (e) establishing validity and reliability for the modified questionnaire, and (f) using research design.

Identifying and articulating a research topic and related problems are important processes for novice researchers. However, some novice researchers have trouble in these processes due to their low domain knowledge, low structural knowledge, insufficient metacognition, or insufficient information access skills. This study addressed these problems by developing an information base tool using strategies and tools investigated by previous studies. The tool includes conceptual modeling, guided search, experimental variables and relationships examination, note-taking, suggestion, file import, and review features. The tool was populated with relevant information to permit testing and formative evaluation by novice researchers. Expert reviewers evaluated the effects of each feature of the tool on scaffolding individuals who have low domain knowledge or low structural knowledge and supplementing individuals who have insufficient metacognition or insufficient information access skills. The reviewers commonly agreed that specific components of the tool would be effective in scaffolding individuals who have low domain knowledge or low structural knowledge, or supplementing individuals who have insufficient information access skills. / Ph. D.